you’re still mixing two very different judgments together as if they’re one and the same. Jeremiah’s warning was indeed to his generation about Babylon’s invasion and the horrors that would take place in the Valley of Hinnom. No one denies that. But that local, national judgment was the type—the picture—not the antitype. Jesus used that very same imagery to reveal a greater, final, and eternal judgment.
You’re reading Jeremiah correctly, but you’re stopping where Jesus continues. The “unquenched fire” of Jeremiah 7:20 was temporal wrath; it consumed the land and people in history. Yet Jesus carried that same imagery forward and applied it to something beyond physical death. He said, “Fear Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” ~Matthew 10:28. That’s not Babylon, and that’s not temporal life. Babylon could kill the body; only God can destroy both body and soul in Gehenna.
And no, “psuchē” doesn’t simply mean “life” in that verse—it means the inner self, the conscious, immortal part of man that lives beyond the grave. Jesus used the same word when He said, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul (psuchē)?” ~Mark 8:36. That’s not physical life in the land of Canaan; that’s eternal loss.
Deuteronomy 30 does speak of life and death in covenant terms, but even that passage points to more than geography—it points to spiritual fellowship or separation from God. The warning to Israel was always twofold: temporal consequences for disobedience and eternal separation for rebellion against God.
The consistent testimony of Scripture is that there is a wrath beyond earthly wars, beyond national judgment, beyond physical death. Jesus called it “eternal fire” ~Matthew 25:41. Paul called it “everlasting destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” ~2 Thessalonians 1:9. You can localize Jeremiah all day long, but you can’t reduce Christ’s eternal warnings to one valley in ancient Judah. The Word of God makes clear that temporal judgment is a shadow—but eternal judgment is the reality.
Regarding Matthew 10:28, the context of the chapter itself demands a first century fulfillment, and a coming national judgment over Israel.
“Jesus
sent these twelve out and commanded them, saying, “
Don’t go among the Gentiles, and don’t enter into any city of the Samaritans. Rather,
go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach, saying, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons. Freely you received, so freely give. Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor sandals, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. Into whatever city or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you go on. As you enter into the household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it isn’t worthy, let your peace return to you. Whoever doesn’t receive you or hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.
Most certainly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city.” (Matt 10:5-15)
This is the context of Matthew 10:28, no gentile is to here of this warning! but only the lost sheep of Israel!
//And no, “psuchē” doesn’t simply mean “life”//
Yes, psuchē can absolutely be translated as "life" as this rendering is demanded in many instances.
If we read further down this chapter into verses 38-39 Jesus uses “psuché” twice, giving us a clue of how he’s using it:
“And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life (psuché) shall lose it: and he that loseth his life (psuché) for my sake shall find it. (Matt 10:38-39 KJV)
Psuché here in this text is properly translated as “life.” It does not make any sense for one to “find one’s soul,” or to “lose one’s soul,” if really the soul is this transparent immortal spiritual substance responsible for one’s consciousness that comes out of the individual at death.
the AFV Bible properly translates it:
Do not be afraid of those who kill the body, but do not have power to destroy the life; rather, fear Him Who has the power to destroy both life and body in Gehenna. (A Faithful Version)
Looking at Luke 9:24 (The Parallel account to Matthew 16:25 and Mark 8:35), “life” is clearly not referring to any kind of immortal soul. In these texts you also have the coming of the son of man just like Matthew 10, and 24, along with the coming of the kingdom that was to arrive before that generation passed away:
“He said to all, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to
save his life will lose it, but whoever will lose his life for my sake will save it. For what does it profit a man
if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits his own self? For whoever will be ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels. But I tell you the truth:
There are some of those who stand here who will in no way taste of death until they see God’s Kingdom.”
